For the first time in 68 years, since January 26th 1948, the majority of the world gets to experience the stunningly beautiful Supermoon this Monday November 14th 2016. This is called a perigee-syzygy, where the moon is the closest to the Earth because of the elliptical orbit, or to put it simply, the moon orbits the Earth in an oval shape; a perigee when closest and an apogee when farthest. The moon will be a narrow 221,525 miles away from Earth. It will appear 14% larger and 30% brighter than usual. This won't happen again until November 2034, it's a once-in-a-generation experience so don't miss out!
Britain covered with clouds
Unfortunately for us British folks, we're covered by a blanket of clouds so we can't see it very well. However, don't lose hope, it'll still be here Tuesday November 15th, although slightly smaller but of course very close still! Let's pray for clearer skies. The best time to see it will be at sunrise when it will appear significantly bigger rising from the horizon, oh, and it'll be a bright orangey-yellow colour because of the sun's reflection.
Because the moon is a lot closer, its gravitational pull is a lot stronger and has caused rougher tides; for example, Venice, a city in Italy, flooded today because of it, with waves reaching just over one metre tall.
Moon seen with naked eye
You don't even need a telescope to see the moon in full bloom with the detail you don't usually see, you just need to use your naked eyes and enjoy the beauty of this amazing phenomenon. Time to get your cameras out of the storage and give them a dust.
The world joins in unity and awe to get a glimpse of the moon at many different times during the day and night, We're all in this together.
So many different beautiful pictures have already been taken, and will be taken and shared with those who can't see it too well and it will go down in history. Even future perigees won't seem as large as this one because the moon is gradually drifting away from Earth, so do treasure it. Remember to wrap up warm before you go outside to moon-gaze!
